Brigham and Women's Hospital Nursing
About nursing at Brigham and Women's Hospital
Nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are known for their excellent clinical practice and providing compassionate, patient- and family-centered care. We understand that expert nursing care is shaped by relationships with patients and their families. That’s why we’re committed to knowing our patients on a deeper level — not just as patients but also as individuals — to ensure that they, and their families, feel known and cared for.
We believe nurses are well-positioned to transform care and improve the patient experience with their skills, knowledge and perspective. We support Brigham nurses pursuing innovation, research and improvement initiatives that will help us achieve our vision of a healthier community and world.
In this challenging national health care environment, we are deeply committed to nurturing a supportive practice environment for our nurses. This includes prioritizing nurse retention, helping newly licensed nurses transition to practice, supporting the professional growth and development of clinical nurses and leaders, and fostering well-being throughout our department.
We are honored to have received Magnet designation in 2018 and 2023 in recognition of nursing excellence and the provision of outstanding patient care in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
Our vision
Brigham nurses share a deep commitment to providing safe, high-quality care for all patients, advancing our professional practice and engaging in lifelong learning.
We strive to advance our nursing practice through scientific inquiry, using the best evidence, sharing knowledge and implementing nurse-driven innovations that enhance the care and experience of patients at the Brigham and beyond.
Honors
Brigham and Women’s Hospital has been recognized for nursing excellence and the care delivered by interprofessional teams with numerous external awards and honors. These include:
- Magnet Designation: The Brigham has twice achieved Magnet designation — the gold standard of nursing excellence and high-quality patient care delivered by an entire institution — from the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2018 and in 2023.
- Baby-Friendly Hospital Designation: The Brigham is a two-time recipient of Baby-Friendly Hospital designation from Baby-Friendly USA in recognition of exceptional, evidence-based, patient-centered care and education around infant feeding practices.
- Beacon Award for Excellence: The Brigham is home to numerous units that have received the Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN). Beacon units set the standard for excellence in patient care by collecting and using evidence-based information to improve patient outcomes, as well as patient and staff satisfaction.
- Practice to Transition Accreditation Program: Our Nora McDonough Nurse Residency Program — which provides a yearlong, comprehensive orientation to help nurses develop their skills and grow in their practice with a supportive cohort — achieved accreditation as a Practice Transition Program from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for demonstrating excellence in transitioning nurses to new practice settings.
- NICHE Member: The Brigham is a NICHE member hospital, committed to patient-centered care for our older adult patients and their families. NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) is a national organization which aims to create age-friendly health care services for older adults in the U.S.
Leadership
Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services
Julia Mason, DNP, MBA, RN, CENP, serves as chief nursing officer and senior vice president of Patient Care Services for Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is also the incumbent of the Beth V. Martignetti Endowed Chair in Nursing at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Julia collaborates with multidisciplinary leaders across Brigham and Women's Hospital to ensure the delivery of high-quality, safe care to patients in all locations.
An experienced nursing executive, Julia is deeply committed to fostering positive practice environments that support nurses and all team members in providing excellent care to patients and their loved ones.
Prior to joining the Brigham, Julia was the senior vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer for the hospital division of The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio. The system includes a five-time Magnet designated academic hospital, two community hospitals, an inpatient rehabilitation center and a behavioral health hospital, among other facilities.
Julia also has held leadership roles in both community health and academic medical center settings, including as chief nursing officer at University Hospitals (UH) Parma Medical Center and UH Bedford and Richmond Medical Centers in Ohio. In addition, she spent two years as a senior clinical executive at Vocera Communications.
Julia began her career as a clinical nurse, practicing for more than 20 years in critical care settings.
She received her DNP from Ohio State University, her MBA from Baldwin Wallace University and her BSN from the University of Wisconsin.
Executive Director, Center for Nursing Excellence
Bee Baldeo, MBA, serves as executive director for the Center for Nursing Excellence for Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.
She also serves as executive director for Patient Care Services, including Nutrition and Rehabilitation Services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as Spiritual Care Services and Interpreter Services for Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.
Bee previously served as administrative director for the Center for Nursing Excellence, supporting the center’s operations, special projects, recognition programs and shared governance. Her prior roles during her 14-plus years at Brigham and Women’s Hospital also include business manager for Nursing and a special projects analyst in the Department of Medicine.
Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Center for Nursing Excellence and Patient Care Services
Pamela Linzer, PhD, RN, CPHQ, NEA-BC, leads the Center for Nursing Excellence and Patient Care Services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. The center encompasses education, scholarship, research, quality, informatics and other areas in support of advancing clinical nursing practice.
Pam also oversees Patient Care Services, which includes Nutrition, Rehabilitation, Spiritual Care, and Interpreter Services for Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.
She previously led the Medicine division at the Brigham, including three Beacon Award-winning medical intermediate care units.
Pam joined the Brigham in 2021 from Winchester Hospital, a member of Beth Israel Lahey Health, where she served as associate chief nursing officer for inpatient nursing, nursing budget and resources and informatics. A published author and researcher, Pam is an expert in data-based approaches to facilitating improvement in quality and patient safety outcomes.
Senior Nursing Director, Critical Care and Nursing Administrators
Linda Delaporta, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, is the senior nursing director leading Critical Care and nursing administrators. She oversees day-to-day operations and works with nursing and multidisciplinary leaders and staff in support of patient care in these areas.
She has a depth of experience and expertise in critical care nursing and hospital operations. Linda began at the Brigham as a staff nurse and later became a charge nurse in the Medical ICU, where she worked for 16 years. She then transitioned to a nurse administrator role before serving as nursing director for the Integrated Teaching Units on Braunwald Tower 16AB.
She was instrumental in helping the unit to achieve a gold level Beacon Award and in nurturing a culture that celebrates professional growth and nursing practice. She also helped to develop the Medicine Float Pool to support staffing across the Medicine division.
Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Perioperative Services
Janet Gorman, MM, BSN, RN, oversees all aspects of Perioperative nursing at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, including the operating rooms, pre-operative areas, Weiner Center and the post-anesthesia care unit.
Her 30-plus years of nursing and leadership experience include serving as associate chief nursing officer of the Brigham’s Emergency Department and Float Pool and playing a critical role in the hospital’s response to emergent internal and external events. She has been instrumental in planning for the Emergency Department expansion and hospital-wide patient throughput initiatives.
Prior to joining the Brigham, Janet was a nursing director at Boston Medical Center, where she oversaw patient flow throughout the hospital.
Senior Nursing Director, Advanced Practice Nursing
As senior nursing director for Advanced Practice Nursing, Lindsay Harris, MBA, APRN, NE-BC, provides leadership for APP practice, credentialing standards, policies and procedures, quality assurance, continuing education and other initiatives. She also cares for a panel of complex cardiac arrhythmia patients in electrophysiology.
Lindsay’s extensive experience includes prior roles as nursing director and assistant nursing director of the APRN community across inpatient and ambulatory specialties. She advanced initiatives in support of APRNs, including standardizing delineation of the credentialing and privileging process, serving as co-chair of the APRN Council and developing and leading a dedicated onboarding, orientation and mentorship program.
Lindsay also previously served as nurse practitioner team manager for an ambulatory cardiac device clinic and remote monitoring program that she developed.
Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Critical Care, Cardiovascular and Neurosciences
Margaret Higgins, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, leads nursing in the Critical Care, Cardiovascular and Neurosciences divisions.
Prior to being appointed to her current role, she was the associate chief nursing officer for Women’s and Newborn Health as well as Care Continuum Management at the Brigham.
Margaret has more than 20 years of clinical nursing and leadership experience at the Brigham, including roles as nurse director for two Special Pathogens Intensive Care Units during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as thoracic intensive and intermediate care units and plastic surgery and urology units.
Executive Administrator, Finance and Operations, Nursing and Patient Care Services
Kevin Hulme, MBA, collaborates with leaders, staff and providers to address operational and financial challenges and optimize our performance in support of patient care.
He joined the Brigham from Steward Medical Group, where he served as vice president of Business Operations.
Kevin began his career at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a surgical scheduling coordinator and, over the course of 13 years, held roles including Operating Room billing supervisor, operations coordinator for Nursing and Patient Care Services, and finance manager for the Department of Nursing and Patient Care Services.
Senior Nursing Director, Procedural Services
Kari Irwin, MSN, RN, RCIS, NE-BC, is the senior nursing director of Procedural Services for Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.
In this role, Kari is focused on collaborating with multidisciplinary leaders to help maximize access for procedural patients and support the needs of care teams at BWH and BWFH.
She previously served as nursing director of the Procedural Recovery Unit at BWH, where she guided significant transformations to increase recovery access for patients. She also expanded resources through her oversight of a newly formed procedural float pool and procedural resource nurse role.
Her prior roles include clinical nurse and charge nurse in the BWH Cardiac Cath Lab, assistant nursing director of Interventional Cardiology at BWH and clinical nurse at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati and Trinity Hospital in North Dakota.
Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Oncology, Medicine and Surgery
Jane Keefe, MBA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, oversees Oncology, Medicine and Surgery Nursing.
Prior to joining the Brigham, Jane was an associate chief nurse at Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH), where she oversaw services including emergency, intensive care, hemodialysis, med/surg, oncology, float pool, IV team, STAT nursing and nursing supervisors.
Jane also previously served as the nursing director of a cardiac unit at NWH and a program development manager for the Institute for Patient Care at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Jane earned her bachelor’s degree from Boston College and her MBA from Simmons College. She is enrolled in a DNP program at UMass Medical School.
Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Emergency Medicine
Anna Meyer, DNP, RN, leads emergency medicine nursing at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.
She has dedicated her career to emergency medicine, serving most recently as interim senior nursing director of BWH Emergency Medicine. Over the past few years, Anna has worked in partnership with staff and multidisciplinary colleagues on the hospital’s Emergency Department expansion and multiple process improvement initiatives to enable BWH to continue caring for an increasingly high volume of ED patients.
Her prior roles include nursing director and assistant nursing director/flow manager in the BWH Emergency Department, as well as nursing manager of Emergency Services at South Shore Health.
Senior Nursing Director, Oncology
As senior nursing director, Anna Pullo, MSN, RN, BMTCN, oversees nursing practice throughout the division of Oncology and partners with interprofessional leaders and colleagues to ensure that compassionate, high-quality care is consistently provided.
She is also responsible for quality improvement, education and professional development, clinical information systems, leadership development and strategic planning, among other areas.
Anna’s experience in Oncology nursing and patient care includes more than seven years as a nursing director and three years as a clinical nurse in Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant units at BWH. As a nursing director, she focused on fostering an inclusive, team-based environment to support nurses in the delivery of care.
Prior to joining the Brigham, she worked at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital as a clinical nurse.
Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Women’s and Newborn Health and Ambulatory Services
Tara Tehan, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, oversees Women’s and Newborn Health and Ambulatory Services.
Prior to joining the Brigham, she served as an associate chief nurse at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, overseeing Ambulatory, Behavioral Health, Maternal Child Health and Lactation Services, as well as the Psychiatric Emergency Team, the Center for Clinical Excellence and Professional Development Team, and Clinical Informatics.
Tara’s previous roles include nursing director of the Neurosciences ICU at Massachusetts General Hospital, unit manager of the Respiratory Care Unit at Baystate Medical Center, and nurse clinician for the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Johns Hopkins. She also has served in numerous professional organizations, including the role of president of the American Nurses Association, Massachusetts.
Tara earned her BS from Providence College, her BSN and MSN/ MBA from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and her PhD from the University of Massachusetts.
Her research interests include patient- and family-centered care during critical illness.
Nursing practice and patient care
Professional practice model
Our professional practice model was created with input from many clinical nurses. The model is a compass, signifying the role of nurses as advocates who help patients and families navigate their experience.
View our professional practice model
Shared governance
We believe that participative decision-making, highly effective teamwork, and excellence in patient and family care are best accomplished via a shared governance structure that encourages the voice of all nurses to be heard.
Awards and recognition
The Gitta and Saul Kurlat Essence of Nursing Award is the highest honor presented annually to a Brigham and Women’s Hospital clinical nurse or nurse-in-charge whose practice reflects our Nursing Professional Practice Model.
The award is supported through the generosity of the late Mr. Saul Kurlat, a grateful patient of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in honor of the compassionate care that Brigham nurses provided to his late wife, Gitta.
Each year, we publicly acknowledge the many accomplishments of our award recipient and four honorees.
Through the generosity of Susan and James Hunnewell, we recognize newly licensed nurses for compassion, excellence, collaboration and knowledge – the four components of our Professional Practice Model.
Four recipients are selected annually through nominations by their peers and leaders. We celebrate this award during our nurse recognition activities in the spring.
Brigham and Women’s collaborates with the DAISY Foundation to recognize nurses’ exceptional clinical skills and compassion. This international award was established by Bonnie and Mark Barnes in honor of their son, Patrick, who died of the auto-immune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP) at age 33.
We welcome patients, families and staff members to submit nominations on behalf of their nurse or nurses.
In partnership with the DAISY Foundation, Brigham and Women’s Hospital recognizes the incredible work of nursing leaders with the DAISY Nurse Leader Award.
We welcome patients, families and staff members to nominate nursing leaders.
The TULIP (Touching Unique Lives In Practice) Award recognizes our patient care associates, medical assistants and emergency services assistants for going above and beyond to provide outstanding, compassionate care to our patients. These vital team members collaborate closely with nurses and clinical teams to deliver excellent care to patients in many hospital settings.
We welcome patients, families and staff members to submit TULIP nominations.
Commitment to quality and safety
Our Mass General Brigham goal is to lead the nation in providing the highest quality care For Every Patient. In alignment with this system goal, Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses are contributing to delivering the highest quality care by engaging in strategies that improve the patient’s experience, and nursing quality outcomes, while also reducing mortality and hospital acquired infections. Using a High Reliability framework, nursing strategies are transforming care that is equitable, team-oriented, data driven, and rigorously focused on mitigating risk and continually improving care delivery.
ICU staffing ratios
Starting with the first quarter of 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) now requires all Massachusetts ICUs to report quarterly Registered Nurse-to-Patient ratios on their websites.
Research and innovation
Clinical nurses are well positioned to participate in research studies, quality improvement efforts and innovative projects that advance patient care, the experience of patients and staff and the practice of nursing.
We support nurses in these pursuits with resources including:
- Access to nurse scientists who offer support, guidance and resources throughout every step of the process
- Estrellita & Yousuf Karsh Nursing Scholars Day, an annual event to showcase the innovative work of our nursing community
- Scholarships for clinical nurses and nurse educators who seek to conduct research or publish their scholarly work
- A council within our shared governance structure that focuses on research and innovation
By adding to the body of evidence available and disseminating our work through publications and presentations, our nurses are helping to improve care at the Brigham and beyond.
Nursing education and professional development
